The present disclosure generally relates to ostomy appliances, and more particularly to drainable ostomy pouches having closure systems.
Ostomy pouches for collecting body waste are used by patients who have had surgery such as a colostomy, ileostonty, or urostomy. Ostomy pouches typically include flat, opposing side walls secured together along their edges to define a collection cavity. One of the side walls is provided with an opening to receive a stoma, and means to secure the pouch to the user, such as an adhesive barrier, so that body waste discharged through the stoma is received within the cavity.
The ostomy pouch may be a closed-end pouch for a single use, in which case the entire pouch is discarded after it has been substantially filled with stomal discharge. Alternatively, the ostomy pouch can be a drainable pouch with as discharge opening at its lower end, which may be closed during collection of body waste material but may be opened for draining, body waste material from the pouch after a period of use. Such drainable pouches are disclosed, for example, in Nolan, U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,534, and Jensen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,659, which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
The discharge opening of drainable pouches is typically defined at the end of a narrowed neck portion, which is provided with closure means for maintaining the discharge opening in a sealed condition until waste material is to be drained from the pouch. The closure means may take the form of a clamp, as in the aforementioned Nolan patent, or a device such as conventional wire ties or wraps for securing the neck portion in an upwardly-rolled condition.
For quality of life of the users, drainable pouches should be easy to drain without risking soiling of clothes or the surroundings. They also should be easy to close securely after being drained and amenable to being cleaned after drainage and before closing again, such that the risk of unpleasant odor is substantially reduced. Most importantly, the closure means should provide a secure seal when closed to minimize the risk of leakage.
Many different solutions concerning the closing, cleaning and drainage operations have been proposed and implemented. For example, Villefrance et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,879,015 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/843,457, which are commonly assigned with the present application and incorporated herein in their entirety by reference, disclose drainable pouches having integral closure systems. For obvious reasons, fluffier improvements in the closure systems for easier operation and reduced risk of leakage are much desired by users.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved closure system for drainable pouches.